Sweet Treats and Drinks

Budget and Prep

According to chef Emmanuel Stone at Epting Events, it's possible to throw a fairly lavish party for 50 people for about $500, but it's important to plan your budget carefully. A good rule of thumb is to plan to spend about 60 percent of your party budget on food and drink; 25 percent on glasses, flatware, and necessary serving pieces; and 15 percent on the look and feel.

Renting essential items like glasses and small plates can be surprisingly inexpensive per piece, but the delivery costs ($75 in many areas nationwide) and minimums (frequently $300) often raise the price considerably. Classic Party Rentals (with locations nationwide) offers basic, all-purpose 11-ounce glasses for as little as 70 cents apiece, and small white-rimmed plates for about 65 cents each. Obviously, renting may mean fancier ware and no washing, but also a pricier party, especially since experts advise that you rent three times as many glasses and 10 percent more plates and flatware than number of guests.

If you'd rather buy, check out your local dollar store or online discount stores for economical disposable options, or reusable items that can be saved for your next party. At online retailer Dollar Tree, a case of 12 8.5-ounce Cobalt Blue Festive wine glasses—billed as durable and dishwasher-safe—cost $12 (plus shipping and handling). RestaurantWare.com sells pretty and eco-friendly bamboo plates, which cost about $80 for 100 medium-size plates.

Food

Chef Stone has several tips on how best to feed a crowd for less. First, and perhaps most important, he recommends throwing your party midafternoon so that no guest will arrive famished!

For a large bash on a budget, Stone suggests a menu of foods that can be picked up and eaten in a bite or two, followed by something sweet and simple for dessert. The last thing you want is to have guests swarming the same food and beverage table, so place the selection of foods in multiple spots throughout the home, as well as outside on the patio and/or on a table in the garden. This will get guests to retrieve their plates, serve themselves, and mingle until they are ready for more. And here's a caterer's trick you can adopt: Serve your bite-size fare on smaller plates, which will make each serving look larger.

When it comes to finger foods, expect that each guest will eat between 6 and 10 hors d'oeuvres. To keep things within budget, plan to serve larger quantities of inexpensive apps, such as dips and crudités: Multiply your number of guests by 5 to calculate how many servings to make. Homemade bean-based dips—great served alongside pita chips and crudités—can be made for less than $4 for a batch that feeds 12. Hearty and healthy, chips and dip are perfect for filling up a crowd—plus, dips can be prepared ahead of time, and you can never make too much.

Having saved some money by going the chips-and-dip route, you can now splurge on smaller quantities (about a quarter of all hors d'oeuvres) of more luxurious apps such as the Seattle Tuna Rolls or lobster rolls. Because there are fewer of these, and chilling is required, serve them sporadically throughout the duration of the party to make them last. Meatballs are a killer dish that can be made ahead, and they are incredibly easy to prep. Make turkey, pork, beef, or even vegetarian varieties and serve them with a trio of sauces. Guests will get full fast.

Roasting a chicken or pork shoulder for pulled meat sliders is an easy and budget-friendly way to feed a large crowd: Meat sliders can be made ahead, or the meats can be served buffet-style so people build their own sliders and stuff them with a custom selection of condiments. DIY sliders are fun to make and will also keep guests busy rather than overeating.

For dessert, experts at Epting recommend baking batches of cookies and brownies. Both are speedy make-head options, and they're easy on the wallet, too, at about $5 a batch. Most important, they're huge crowd-pleasers. To make the brownies a touch more glamorous, use cookie cutters instead of a knife to cut them. Seasonal fruit makes a colorful, budget-friendly complement to a spread of brownies and cookies or other desserts.

Time permitting, homemade popsicles (check out our Paletas Primer) can be prepared in advance. Not only will they add a little charm to the gathering and get friends excited about the warm summer ahead, but they're also a low-cost option that will keep guests licking away.

Drinks

Often a multigenerational gathering, a graduation party can present some challenges when planning the drinks menu. The best (and most affordable) option is to forgo a full bar, and instead set up a table with punch-style drinks that can be made ahead of time in big batches. Best of all, these can be served either alcohol-free or with a splash of wine or spirits. A keg of your favorite brew is an economical way to appease beer drinkers, but cans or bottles can also be offered in ice-filled buckets or tubs. Supplement the options for nondrinkers with pitchers of lemon and cucumber-flavored water, or iced tea. And regardless of what you serve, keep in mind that you can never have too much ice, so be sure to stock your freezer.

According to Chef Stone, you can expect that within the first hour each guest will have about 1½ drinks, and then 1 drink after that per hour. It's safe to assume that each guest will end up using up to three drinking glasses, so buy or rent glassware accordingly. A smart way to keep track of glasses is to ask guests to use a drink marker: Not only will these funny little figures help guests keep their eye on their drink, but they'll also add a little more character to the party.